P1
by Quick-n-Popular
Summary: Prue Halliwell is back and neither sides know why and nor do the Charmed Ones. Leo has been ordered to follow her as a separate charge while the three sisters are eager to have her back. Meanwhile, a mysterious man has plans for Prue's rebirth. R&R please
1. The Awakening

**"P1"**

By Quick-n-Popular

Disclaimer: All characters, except those I've created. Are sole properties of Spelling inc. and Warnerbrothers television.

Chapter One: The Awakening

Lying on a park bench in Golden Gate Park, a short, dark-haired, brunette, lay with her eyes closed as she turned her head as the morning's sun cast itself from across the top of the trees and down onto her face. She opens her eyes, slowly, then closes them. Suddenly, she jerks her whole body up, her eyes wide open and she stares around at her surroundings.

Fear, confusion, and soon a massive headache come to her and she gingerly tries to get off of the bench, feeling the rough gravel of the path that was in front of the bench. She wasn't wearing any shoes. Upon noticing the absence of footwear, she looked to the rest of her body as was relieved that she was dressed, though albeit oddly. She was garbed in a black top and sweatpants pair; her bare arms feeling the cold air caused her to wrap her self as she sat back down on the bench.

Closing her eyes, she beckoned for memories to return to her of both who is she is and why she was here. So far, nothing came with the exception of one image that was blurry, distorted, and entirely did not make any sense.

"Prue? Prue Halliwell?"

The woman turned to see an elderly couple in matching jogging suits stop right in front of her; the woman of the pair approached her.

"Dearie, what are you doing here, and in that? You must be freezing! George, go get a coat from the van, will you?"

The other nodded and went on down the graveled track, while his other sat down with the woman.

"George and I just got back from Reno and we heard an awful rumor going around that you had just died, lately. I can't tell you how happy I am to see it's false." She put her arm around the woman's shoulder.

"P…Prue? M-My name is Prue?" The woman asked, shakily.

The elderly woman looked at her in shock and in sadness. "Oh, my dear. Don't you know who you are, Exactly?"

She shook her head, "I…I can't remember anything."

The older woman sighed and gave her a big hug.

"You are Prudence Halliwell, you're a photographer, and you have two sisters, Piper and Phoebe. Your sister Piper is now married. Don't you remember any of this?"

The woman shook her head. However, the names "Piper" and "Phoebe" did ring something in her empty head.

The woman's husband soon came back with a jacket and the woman wrapped it around herself. "Thanks."

"So, what's wrong with her, Jill?" Asked George.

Jill sighed, "I think Prue needs to see a doctor and then I think we should call Piper and let her know."

The two then helped the woman up and took her out of the park and to the minivan that was out in the parking lot.

* * *

Leo hated moments like these. The moments where the three girls would leave without telling him where they were going. He knew, however, that should there be immediate danger, they would call on him in a flash, so there was some reassurance with that. Another thing he hated was when he was stuck here at the house with nothing to do. Just then, the phone rang.

"Halliwell residence." He said.

"Hello, is either of the Halliwell sisters available?" Said a voice.

"No they're not," Leo said, "But I'm Piper's husband, could I take a message for them?"

There was a pause and a hushed discussion on the other end, then, "This is Francine at San Francisco Memorial and we were wondering if possibly you could come on over and see a patient we've recently just received."

Leo found his heart beating still; fear came into his mind, as he feared which of the sisters might be at the hospital.

"Ill be right over, quickly." He said and as son as he hung up the phone, he orbed out of the room.

Appearing outside the hospital doors, Leo walked in and talked to the receptionist. "I'm Leo Wyatt I was just called." He said. The woman behind the desk typed on the computer and then looked back at him. "You're Piper Halliwell's husband?"

Leo nodded.

The woman went back to her computer and then, again, turned back to Leo. "Please have a seat, Dr. Marx will be with you shortly."

Leo sighed and walked over to the seating area and sat. Part of him was tempted to orb back up to the elders and to try and find out just exactly what had happened. So far, nothing was beckoning for him to leave, so it may have just been something usual.

A tall man in a doctor's uniform approached Leo, his shaggy brown beard and glasses tried to smile as he walked to him.

"Mr. Wyatt? I'm Dr. Marx, please have a seat."

Leo sat back down as Dr. Marx took the folder ha had underneath his arm and opened it. "We have a rather unusual case before us, Mr. Wyatt."

Leo frowned at him in confusion. "I don't know what you mean."

The doctor turned the page to the photograph that the police took at the Halliwell residence the day Prue was murdered by the demon-assassin Shax. Underneath that photo was of the woman sitting in hospital patient clothes, looking curiously at her surroundings.

"By All accounts, Mr. Wyatt, your wife's sister should STILL be dead. She had a zero-negative pulse on the scene and has been dead for almost half of a year."

Leo took the folder and looked between the two images in disbelief.

"She…she is dead. I was the one who found them when I came home. I was there with Inspector Morris when they announced it." Leo could feel like he could no longer look at the picture anymore, feeling the grief and guilt of losing one of his charges and friends.

The doctor sighed, "You have to admit, she has an uncanny resemblance to Prue Halliwell, doesn't she?"

Leo nodded. The woman looked exactly like her up to the birthmark on the side of the nose.

"I'm about to go and do an interview with her, would you care to join me?" Asked Dr. Marx.

Leo thought for a moment and then said, "I will, I just need some fresh air. This is a lot to take in."

The doctor nodded and walked out as Leo orbed out of the room.

* * *

The woman, or Prue, as they were calling her, watched as various doctors stood around the room looking at her with immense curiosity and peddled her question after question, none of them could she answer. 

Tests were made, blood work was drawn up, EKGs , and physical therapy to try and determine who she was, exactly. The hospital staff even showed images of the woman herself on a monitor along with two other women.

"Do you recognize these two women, miss?" Asked one of the doctors.

The woman shook her head. "Should I?"

A hospital psychiatrist came onboard and sat down with her and put her through a hypnotism test.

"Now," He said, "Go back to the latest thing you remembered.

The woman's eyes darted back and forth in her mind. "I remember being in a place of complete warmth. There's light, people, feelings, happy images. I feel at peace, here."

The psychiatrist wrote on his pad, nodding along. "What else?"

"Nothing." The woman replied, "Ant then…I found myself awake on that park bench in Golden Gate Park."

"You've been there before, I take it?" The doctor asked.

The woman shrugged. "I guess so."

The doctor counted to three and the woman came out of her trance, she sat up looking at the doctor. "Did that help?"

The doctor patted her on the knee. "We'll find out, soon enough. We're having several people brought in to help identify you; we think they'll help."

The woman nodded, still uncertain, and was allowed the privacy of the room as the doctor ushered the others to leave.

The woman took the moment alone to look herself in the mirror in the room, thinking. _They say the same thing. That I'm a woman who died six months ago. Am I her?_

Her thoughts were disrupted as a man in an officers uniform came through the door.

"Are you Miss Prue Halliwell?" He asked.

The woman sighed, shifted her weight on the bed, and shrugged. "I guess..."

The man, then, gave a sinister smile, his voice then became, dark, deep, and demonic. "So the rumors were true..."

Prue looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. As soon as he came nearer to her, she put her hands in front of her, sheilding herself from whatever was to happen next.

The man barked a menicful laugh, "Aw, the pre-Charmed One cowers in fear. As it should be."

Prue looked up from her crossed arms and saw the man reach back behind himself, in his hand a rotating, electrifying, blue-ish orb shrieked into life; he turned back to her.

"The Source will give me everything I want once he learns that I, Hathos, have defeated one of the Charmed Ones!" He then threw the spirialing object at her.

Then, as if something awoke with rage and avengence, Prue gritted her teeth, looked hatefully at the man/thing in front of her and she un crossed her arms and pushed them out, not only at the object being hurtled at her, but at the man himself. A wave of energy catapulted the energy-ball and its owner across the room and sent the wall and door with it, crashing all of it to the side of the hallway.

Prue breathed hard, watching what she had accomplished and then, suddenly, her head was thrown back and she gritted her teeth, once again, as in her mind began flooding with images, hundreds of them.Those of when she was a child with her sisters, the moment when she had witnessed her mother being pulled out from the lake in a body bag , taking care of Grams, Grams funeral, Phoebe leaving both Prue and Piper to places unknown, Prue rejecting Nathan's marriage proposal, Phoebe returning to the Halliwell House, discovering the Book of Shadows, her and her sisters first adventures as Witches, meeting Matilda, losing Andy to the Time-Turning Demon, Tempest; all up to battling Shax and then nothing...

Prue opened her eyes and shakily got onto the floor as numerous amounts of voices came to the area of the wreckage, one of the doctors came to her, putting his hand on her shouder.

"Miss? What happened?"

Prue clung a hand to the doctor's shoulder to steady herself as she feared she was beginning to pass out, again.

"That's what I'd like to know." She said.

* * *

Leo soon orbed back to the hospital, frustrated that he could neither find the sisters nor obtain any useful information from the Elders. All they had to say to him was that this was something done without their knowledge and maybe both "sides" had done something. Before Leo could inquire further, they told him to make it his priority to investigate this further and to give them updates, but to NOT in form the newly established Charmed Ones. 

Leo had many mixed feelings about this, for one thing, from what it had sounded from the Elders that they were just as, if not more so, surprised by this as Leo was and that what was happening was true. Whatever the case, they did make one thing known to Leo: Prue Halliwell had indeed returned.

Now it was left up to him to discover as to how she came back and what to tell her sisters.

To be continued…

A/N: Profound apologizes for stopping right here but I need a break and also to see what kind of reviews this first chapter will generate. Your reviews count, and I need them and your insights to see as to where I should go from here and in what direction. I have a plan in mind concerning Prue and a love she had not too long ago. So review and be amazed, as this will be an awesome story, I assure you.

Q-n-P


	2. Two, Out, Off, and Into The World

**Chapter Two: Two out, off, and into the world **

Leo had to push his was through as firemarshals, hospital staff and patients came running part him. His fears were becoming too overwhelming as he could only think of what might have caused this burst of mad hysteria. Pushing through more people, he soon found the room where the alleged Prue Halliwell was being kept. Numerous doctors were trying to restrain her as she had a wild look in her eye and she kept on repreating to be let go. One of the doctors suddenly noticed Leo standing in the doorway.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Leo thought for a split second, "I'm her brother-in-law. Can I please help her?"

The doctor made a space for Leo to sit down next to her and, as Leo could see it, the woman was indeed as split-image of Prue Halliwell.

"Let me go, dammit!" She thundered. "I need to see my sisters, I need to see…Leo!" She tore away from the doctors holding her and took Leo into a hard embrace.

"Thank God you're here." She said, and she then began to weep.

Leo looked around and was amazed by the destruction of the room.

"Whoever this woman is, she's caused quite the damage." Said one of he doctors. "We're trying to get her to take a sedative to calm herself down, but she's refusing to do anything until she sees her sisters."

Leo nodded and gently patted "Prue" on the back. He turned to the others. "Any idea on who she is? As Far as I know, Prue Halliwell died six months ago."

The doctor, Marx, whom Leo met earlier, nodded. "Were still waiting back on the blood tests, though buy a visual standpoint she does remarkably look like her.

"That's because I am her, you idiot!" Prue bit back at the doctor. She then looked pleadingly at Leo. "Leo, what's going on? Where's Piper? Where's Phoebe? I'm sure they could come down here and clean up this mess."

Leo looked deep into her eyes, trying to detect anything that would dispel the doubts that were lingering in his mind about the person that was standing before him. It was hard, she looked so remarkably like the woman whom he had held her wife's head against his shoulder, crying, after learning of her passing. Nobody; neither here on Earth nor above could tell him otherwise. He feared that even Piper, Phoebe, and even Paige could really give a definitive answer.

A woman stepped in to confer with one of the doctors. "Excuse me, Dr. Kellerman? A Inspector Morris is here to interview the patient."

"Morris?" Prue looked at the nurse, hopeful at the name of a dear friend.

"Could we have a moment alone?" Leo asked everyone in the room, with the exception of "Prue".

Everyone murmured their permission and soon the room began to vacate, As soon as it did, Leo tore himself away from "Prue" and began passing at the opposite end of the,, now, expanded room.

As soon as they had all gone, Prue looked to Leo. "Has Piper and Phoebe found out anything as to why I've come back, or have you and the Elders?"

Leo sighed, "No, their too busy with Paige trying to figure out whose been framing Cole in these Balthazar-like attacks."

Prue raised an eyebrow, "Paige? Whose she?"

Leo looked to "Prue" in surprise, and then laughed, ruefully. "Aw yes, of course you haven't heard." He decided, now, to play this innocently until he, and possibly the three girls, could find out who this woman is.

"She's your third sister, Prue. Half-sister, actually. Your mother and Sam are her parents."

Prue, too, laughed ruefully as she stood up. "Wait, wait, let me get this straight. Mom and Sam had a daughter? Paige, is it?"

Leo nodded.

"Well, why didn't she tell us?"

Leo smirked, "Well, you know how taboo the issue is with "Witch and Whiteligters" are. It was kept in secret, even from you three."

Prue sighed as she sat herself back down on the bed. "Great. More secrets."

A humming sound occurred, one which only Leo could hear, causing him to look upward as if he was receiving a message; he then turned back to Piper.

"They're calling me." He said.

"My sisters?" Prue asked, hopefully.

Leo shook his head; "the Elders. I'll be back shortly, promise. In the meantime, promise ME that you'll refrain from using your powers and instead use your head on how to explain all of this. Luckily, Morris will be here, however, telling him your back is going to be difficult."

Prue smiled, "I can handle it. Please tell me what those old-farts know and where to go from here.'

Leo nodded and soon was engulfed in a brilliant blue light as his body turned into millions of bluish-white orbs that came spiraling out of the room and into the ceiling. Just as soon as he had left, Inspector Morris arrived and he froze upon seeing Prue in the room and what had become of it.

"You're dead." He said, his eyes in wide-disbelief.

Prue sighed, "That's what everyone keep on telling me.

Thankfully, Morris had her labeled as a "Jane Doe", knowing fully well that a woman being marked as deceased only to have fully reemerged would arouse suspicion, not only for her but for Morris who was the Investigator at the scene of her homicide. That and it would cause alarm for the girls, which both Prue and Morris felt should be left out of it until Leo could arrive with a final decision on the matter on where or not she was in fact dead.

Morris had Prue wait in a holding room at the precinct and made damn sure no one was to enter, as it was well known that Prue had been a frequent visitor to the police station and many of the officers had her in fresh memory.

Prue, however, longed for her sister to enter those doors. To assure them that all was alright that she was back; and maybe meet her new estranged sister Paige and see what kind of person she was. Another thought, albeit a discomforting one, was to see her father again. To go to the attic and summon Grams and maybe Mom, let them know she was alright and back in action. Prue reminded herself that first things were first. She HAD to know why she was brought back and for what purpose. If this was to be a short-time, thing, then she'd rather not add more grief to those who've possibly have gotten on after her passing.

Prue laughed to herself, this hasn't been the first time she had died and to have been brought back. Yet, judging by Leo's expression and attitude, this one wasn't expected.

Speaking of the Whitelighter, Prue shielded her eyes as Leo came into focus. To add more, she held firmly to her chair as a shimmer came in and Cole appeared right next to him.

His mouth gaped open and he starred at her and then to Leo.

"How-?"

Leo waived a hand, dismissing the inquiry and looked to Prue.

"Well, here's what I know. You ARE Prue Halliwell and the Elders are mystified as to how you became re-coporalized without their knowledge. Further more, after I first reported this, they've been trying to bring you back to the spiritual plane, but with no success." He then looked to Cole, whose eyes were fixated on Prue. "I was hoping that our half-demon friend, here, could lend a hand and go underground to see if someone down there's been up to this."

Cole removed his gaze from Prue and looked reluctantly at Leo. "Well sure, I guess I could, but it's going to be hard since that bounty hasn't exactly gone away. Plus, since what you say about the Elders is true, if the Source gets any word of this he'll be just as interested and might try something." He then turned his le pointed at Prue, "Not too mention, Phoebe's going to be extra curious seeing as how I'm not going to be around that very much."

Prue sighed. She really hated it when Cole tiptoed around responsibility and ended up making lame half-ass excuses for himself. "Cole, just do it, won't ya?"

Cole groaned and then nodded. Soon, he shimmered away, leaving just Prue and Leo alone.

Leo waited until he was fully gone until he went over and sat down next to Prue.

"Hasn't changed much since I died, has he?" Prue smiled.

"Sure hasn't." Leo agreed. "Now, Prue, the Elders have instructed me to act as your Whitelighter SEPARATE away from Piper, Phoebe, and Paige."

"What!" Prue got up and strolled to the back of the room in a huff. "Why!"

Leo sighed, "Well…with Paige with them, they reinitiated the "Power of Three", they're the Charmed Ones, now."

Prue bitterly chuckled, "I guess there's no such thing as the "Power of Four", is there?"

Leo shook his head.

Prue sighed, "Where does that leave me, Leo? I still have my powers, which by the way seem to have an extra "oomph" to them. What do the "almighty ones" want me to do? Where do I go from here?"

Leo sighed and walked to her, putting two hands on her shoulders. "Be as you've always been, Prue. Strong, smart, noble, and powerful. Protect innocents wherever you may find them. Your sisters are doing fine with Paige; I've seen it for myself. In the meantime, I'll still be working alongside you, helping you, in whatever way that I can; you can guarantee that."

Prue thought for a moment, sighing in between pauses, and then she turned back to Leo. "How do you think they'll react to seeing me alive again?"

This question seemed to strike a nerve as Leo closed his eyes and backed away.

"Leo?"

Leo rubbed his face and then turned back to Prue.

"Prue…The Elders, they…"

"They what?" Prue said, her voice firmer as she felt something negative was about to come next.

Leo sighed, "They aren't going to allow you to stay at the Halliwell Manor, nor see your sisters. I'm instructed to forbid it."

Prue, then, changed from astonished to furious and she waived her hand at the table standing between them causing it to flip over and crash against the wall.

"What! Are you serious?!"

Leo put two hands in front of himself, trying to be reasonable in the way he talked. "The Elders feel that your awakening could cause a distraction for the three and, therefore, jeopardize their future missions. There has been a longstanding rule of their only being a "Power of Three" with the Halliwells. If you were to come back into their lives, the combination of your magic and theirs could be catastrophic if not devastating. The Elders want you to go solo."

Prue exerted a deep air of grudge and went back to her chair, crossing her arms and stood looking at the floor, breathing deeply. Her eyes darted back and forth before she closed them and breathed in, deeply.

"What do they want me to do, then?"

Leo smiled, "Well, while they try to find out more about how you got brought back here, they've told me to send you to a safe-way house where I have a number of other witches. But before I even do that…" Leo walked forward and slowly waived his hand in front of Prue's face as her hair became longer and tinted with royal purple streaks and her lips stained black. Finally, her nose was fitted with a nose ring and several tattoos came into place on her arms.

"There we go." He said.

Prue went to the two-way mirror and checked her reflection, looking, at first, aghast at her new appearance and then somewhat comical.

"Really? This is how I'm going to look from now on? Like some Goth-chick?"

Leo smirked and nodded, "This is the only way to deceive your appearance long enough for Morris to fill out his paper work and not to arouse suspicion that you are, indeed, a person who has come back from the dead.

Prue turned to him, "How long does it last?"

Leo sighed, "As long as both you and I live."

Prue nodded, appreciatively. Just then, Cole shimmered back in, looking extremely worn out.

"Well," he laughed, despite himself, "Bad news is that they do know you're back, Prue, but good news is, is that you're angrier than ever that someone has done this." He finally took notice of the "new" Prue and fell back into a laughing state.

"Wow! Look at you! If only your sisters could see you now, Lisa Marie Priestly."

Prue went into a saddened huddle and Leo gave a quick glare at Cole.

"What?" Cole asked, defensively.

Then, Both Leo and Cole looked up at the inaudible chimes that were being given off, both groaning.

"I see yo both have to go." Prue said, disappointed.

"Piper."

"Phoebe"

The two said in unison and seemed to shrug at the same time as well. Prue restrained herself from laughing at this. Leo handed Prue a piece of paper with a marked address on it.

"Here's the safe house, please take care of yourself, in the meantime. I'll try to get in contact with you more often."

Prue nodded, smiling; "Thank you, both of you. And Cole," She raised a finger and looked at him with dead seriousness; "Not a word of any of this to Phoebe! Understood?"

Cole rolled his eyes and nodded and soon shimmered away.

Leo smiled to Prue, "I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry." He then gave Prue another hug before orbing away. Inspector soon replaced him

Morris who looked befuddled at the new woman sitting in the room.

Prue smiled, "Like the new look?"

It seemed with the new appearance and a declaration of having amnesia allowed Prue to be released the police station. Morris offered to drive and Prue asked him to stop by her own place but never got out. She had already explained to the Inspector her peculiar circumstances and restrictions, which were responded, by Morris, with the usual "I don't want to know about it."

Watching what was no longer her house, Prue could see inside Piper in the kitchen fixing dinner and in the living room Phoebe, with a girl Prue could only assume could be Paige, tugged back and forth the remote. Leo soon appeared, orbed, rather, into the kitchen and gave his wife a tender kiss on the cheek.

All the while, on the radio in Morris' car, Michelle Branch's _Goodbye To You_ played, which, to Prue, felt sadly appropriate for this moment where she could glance at her sisters, and her newest one, before leaving them. After taking a few more moments, Prue sighed and then told Morris to drive on to the Safe house, which would become her new home.

* * *

A man in an orange jumpsuit sat in his room reading a novel he had buyed from another cellmate, thumping to the next page as he shifted his weight against the poor, overly, used mattress on the bottom bunk of his cell. 

Two guards showed up and one of them took out a set of keys which jangled.

"Jessup, Bane R., get up son." He said as the other opened the cell door.

Bane eyed the two of them cautiously, remembering fully of what had happened the last time he was given an invitation to get out of his cell for a supposed "hearing".

"What for?" He asked.

Neither guards had answered him and they led him out of the prison block. They then had escorted Bane by gunpoint into a van with several other convicts.

As soon as they had left, Bane watched nervously as they drove down the road, having some sinking suspicion that he was soon to be attacked again by some demons sent out to kill him. Thinking back on that left him cold. He remembered watching the TV in the prisoner's lounge and had seen the announcement on TV of Prue Halliwell's death. It felt as if a knife had twisted slowly into his rib-joints. After that, all he could dream/think about was her. He began hoping for some kind of magical miracle, knowing that Prue and her sisters were magic, and that either by magic or some divine intervention, could she be brought back. All in the sheer hope that he'd be able to see her again, to breathe in her air, to touch her silky like skin, and to smell… to smell her long raven-like hair that had a wisp of some flowery scent to it. Despite the physical appeal, another thing he missed most, were her personality, her graciousness, and her temperament. All these thoughts consumed him as the van continued on and, to Bane's surprise, stopped in back of the courthouse.

It then struck him. His Public Defender had told him a parole hearing was coming up soon, and now, judging by the location; it seemed this was the place.

One by one the inmates filed up, their leg bindings clattered as they made their orderly filed marches to the back of the courthouse, waiting to be let in through the back entrance. Four, armed, guards stood on either sides, pacing up and down, watching, tentatively. In about twenty minutes, Bane was next inline and he stopped as the guard at the door stood, with an ear-piece, chewing on a toothpick as he surveyed, not only Bane, but the members behind him as well. The door behind him creaked open and the guard leaned forward, his eyes still on those in front of him, and listened to whomever it was that was behind the door, whispering; he then nodded.

"Alright, Jessup, come right on in." He said. He stood aside as Bane clinked his way inside the building. Inside, one man patted down Bane while the other knelt down and undid his leg restraints. The two then led him over to a long hallway where a white, uniformed, guard waited. Handing him over, a voice behind the door announced his name. The air-conditioned courtroom welcomed Bane as the bailiff led him to the bench where the public defender waited and soon Bane was put right next to him.

Bane sat and listened as the DA listed off all the known felonies Bane had been convicted of and then finished off with the escape he had made almost three two years ago. When he had finished, the DA told the judge of his recommendation that Bane should finish his sentence for the crimes he had committed; he then soon sat back down. The Public Defender rose and agreed with the DA about the crimes that Bane had commit in the past, however he refuted the charge of Bane escaping loose. He went on into a lengthy point-of-view about how Bane came out of prison with two men posing as guards who, which, were most likely men seeking to take out Bane in the open, and that Ban's only alternative was to allude them. He ended with Bane willingly giving himself up to authorities and his present record while being in the system being exemplary.

When all said and done, the judge looked at Bane with piercing eyes which were unreadable.

She then, loudly, told everyone of her decision, remarking on both sides viewpoints and then finally came to her own.

"The Court hereby appoints Mr. Jessup with Parole for twenty days. Should he be exemplary he shall have his case reviewed once more and maybe allowed free, permanently. Should he refuse to oblige to the rules under parole, he shall be sent back here for deliberation and thus sent back to fulfill his time. Am I clear, Mr. Jessup?"

"Yes, your Honor." Bane responded.

The judge nodded and banged her gavel, "Next case."

* * *

Prue bid Morris goodbye as she exited his vehicle to the ransacked apartment building across the street, close to Chinatown. Numerous amounts of gangland graffiti lay painted on the side of the building, yelling could be heard all over, followed by the early evening traffic. 

Walking up the steps, Prue found all sorts of garbage littered in the stairway, baby cries welcomed her ears the closer she walked up the steps. Stopping at the first landing, she peered out of the dirty, half-broken window to see the landscape of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge in plain sight.

Prue sighed, she never felt more lonely or scared as she was having been thrown into an entirely alien life. Proceeding on forth, she went up several more flights when she came to the first door to her left and noticed that on the door, under the number sign, that there was a pyramid with an eye cut into in, rather crudely.

Prue knocked on the door. Inside there were hushed whisperings followed by the clattering of glasses and loud trail of footsteps. Then, a single set of footsteps came toward the door and opened it, halfway, as it had been guarded by a chain-block.

A woman with fiery red hair, tied back with a bandanna, that had Smurfs on it, covered the top of it. Her heavily eye-lied eyes peered curiously at Prue.

"Who are you, what do you wand?" She asked.

Prue gulped, "Uh, my Whitelighter sent me, Leo."

The woman turned away and made a quieted discussion with the unseen others in the room before turning back to Prue.

"What's the formula for banishing a demon?" She asked.

Prue smiled; an easy answer. "Mortwrot-root, bat guano, thyme, and a slice of the demon's skin."

The woman went back to confer with the others before turning back and smiling. "Come on in."

Prue walked inside and was soon welcomed by a mixture of burning candles, mixing potions, and incense. Melissa Ethridge was playing off in the background.

She turned around to her bandanna-cladded friend.

"My name is Heather, by the way. Yours?" She asked, extending a hand, which Prue shook.

Prue thought for a moment and then said, "Matilda. My name's Matilda."

To be continued…

A/N: Hopefully you all realize that this story takes place in the middle of the fourth season as I had mentioned a reference to the "Black as Cole" episode.

All the sisters will see each other again, I assure you. Believe me, this is a hard story to make a Fanfic out of (not counting the fact that I've only seen four out of the eight seasons, so I'm way behind), so please keep your comments encouraging and respectful. All help is welcomed, so please give it.

Q-n-P


	3. Out of the frying pan, into the Coven

**Chapter Three: Out of the frying pan, into the Coven**

At first, Prue half-expected that these "Witches" were not of the magical kind, judging by how some wore very folksy attire and danced around with bundles of rosemary giving off cheesy chants to ward off any evil doers. However, there were some that were otherwise.

Heather, for example, could freeze things like Piper, except she literally froze things, turning them into solid iced objects that shattered with the slightest of touch. Her other powers were impressive as well, all elemental. She could cause lightening showers, snow, rain, fog, and even hail. Helen, who looked more like a Hell's Angels roadie, could manipulate fire and metal whenever it was around her. Pulling it away from its source and cause it to multiply or expand. Cloony, one of the only two male Witches in the safe house, could shrink his size, literally, to that the size of a mouse and pulled pranks on all the women. It was only until Heather had threatened to put in a flytrap the last time she caught him in the shower stall waiting for her to take off her towel, did he swore to stop causing pranks.

Roger, the other male Witch, could astral-project, like Prue but for longer period of times. Heather told Prue that there were times were the rest of them wondered if he was asleep or merely just "AP-ing". The two other women, Janice and Bethany seemed to be the most ordinary of the group. All they did was the over-the-counter magic routines: charms, un-useful-chantings, and seances. Heather explained that their being here was to throw off suspicion from Warlocks and Darklighters and other demons. This had all had to look like a regular Wicca Coven meeting place, which they all called "the Circle of the midnight Jade." Prue was proudly made a member on the spot and for that, she was happy.

Despite herself, Prue was beginning to like her new group of friends. The longing for her sisters, however, still tugged tightly against her heart.

Leo made occasional appearances and everytime he did, Prue tried her best to snag him away from the rest of his charges to find out how her sisters were doing.

"They're fine, really." He answered,

She then would ask him question after question about Paige, the sister she never has met. Leo was patient and kind with all the questions asked to him and Prue finally stopped when she asked her usual last question.

"Have you or Cole found out why I'm back?"

Leo sighed, "It's still a dead-end, Prue. As far as both sides are concerned, this was done outside their jurisdiction; someone else is pulling the strings here. My advice to you is to be best on your guard."

Prue nodded and, with the rest of the people in the safe house, bid him farewell as he orbed out of the building.

* * *

The guard behind the steel cage took the signed document from Bane and gave him his clothes, never once looking directly at him or making any acknowledgment that he was really there.

All of Bane's old clothes, including those that he had on him when he was arrested the second time upon turning himself in, were neatly folded with his brown suede shoes resting on top of them. The last thing the guard gave him was his Rolex.

"Be good now." The guard said, still not looking at Bane.

Bane nodded and walked to the right of him to the exit that led him out into the high set sun.

Breathing in the San Francisco air, Bane looked around him, wondering where to go next from here. In his pocket he had the name and phone number of his parole officer, which he was to call often.

This was going to be a first time, in Bane's life, that he was going to start a life fresh and without a plan. Being born into a life of wealth and privilege, Ban never really had many obstacles laid out in front of him; everything seemed to be planned for him.

Walking down the street, he reached the nearest, usable, payphone and decided to give a call to his Parole Officer, as instructed post his release.

"Gary, hi, it's Bane. Yes, they treated me well…no, I don't plan on going drinking…No, actually, I haven't that many friends that could help me, at this time…Sure," He took out a pencil the release guard gave him, along with a small notebook; "I'll look into it. Thanks. Yeah, I'll be sure to call you every week. Goodbye." Hanging up the receiver, Bane looked at the address, which turned out to be the name and number of a bookstore nearby.

* * *

Leo strummed through the Book of Shadows just as Cole shimmered in, causing Leo to jump.

"I'm never going to get used to you doing that, you realize." Leo said, shaking his head.

Cole grinned, "Second nature. What did you find out about our girl's situation? Anything in the Book?"

Leo sighed, "Nothing about any demons possessing the power to resurrect the dead and have them re-coporalized into their natural body." He looked to Cole, "What disturbs me, and the Elders, even more is that Prue's body is still in the mausoleum; it hasn't been disturbed since she was put in there."

Cole nodded and sighed as he sat down in the dusty armchair in the attic, "It's all quiet below with the exception of the Source offering a big reward to whatever demon could either find out how she came back or to kill her itself."

Leo sighed, "That's reassuring."

Cole shrugged, commenting no further on the subject.

"What are you boys doing up here?"

Leo and Cole turned to see Phoebe walking towards them. Leo closed the Book up.

"Just researching some demons."

Phoebe smiled and put her arm around Cole, "Why not ask our in-house expert?"

"I'm afraid this is far beyond my area of expertise." Cole said, giving an acknowledging look at Leo.

Phoebe looked between the two of them, curiously.

"What's going on, really?"

Cole coughed while Leo walked toward Phoebe placing a hand on her shoulder, smiling. "Cole's just helping me with some Whitelighter business."

Phoebe sighed, "So I guess I should stick my nose out of it, huh?"

Leo nodded.

Phoebe turned back to Cole. Cole was preoccupied with brushing off the remaining dust on the chair he was sitting in, and was unaware she was looking at him.

She sighed, exasperated, and left the two in the room.

* * *

Prue found Heather reminding her more and more of Phoebe the more time she spent with her. Not in personality, but in spirit as Prue found her sneaking out of the safe house through the window.

"What are you doing?" Prue asked.

Heather smiled, "Getting a bit of fresh air, you wanna come?"

Prue too felt an urge to get out away from the cramped apartment, not to mention to get away from Janice and Bethany and their fumigating the apartment with their burnt sprigs of thistle.

"Sure, why not." Prue said.

Climbing out the window, the two women shimmied down the drainpipe to the ground and then cut across the street. Heather pulled Prue along as they went into a dive bar, called the "Wild Pelican" where KT Tunstall blasted at a high volume.

The bar was overcrowded. Many people wore leather and most of the people were at the counter or at the pool tables.

"Come on." Heather said as she drug Prue over to the bar counter.

The bartender, who had an eye-patch, a bald spot, and gray ponytail.; waddled over to the two of them, coughing in the process.

"What'll you have?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Seven and Seven." Said Heather, she looked to Prue.

"A Tequila Sunrise." Prue answered.

The bartender nodded and scuttled off as Prue and Heather turned around and looked around the area.

Prue felt comfortable here. It was a place where she could feel self-conscious-free as to what she was wearing and still enjoy a good time; it seemed. Heather took them to a table, surrounded by stools, and they sat down as a teenage-looking barmaid went to their table with their drinks.

"So, tell me, what is Matilda Hollis like before she found out she was apart of the few, the proud, the witchy?"

Prue laughed, almost inhaling her drink. "Well, I was living a pretty dull life. I was engaged to an auction house proprietor that is until he cheated on me with a size-one with bleached hair. Then I went into photography and have been happy ever since."

"Until you found out you were a 'magical one', right? Then it became "Where does my Whitelighter want me to go next? Who can I trust? Is there a Darklighter somewhere nearby that's going to kill me?" All of this junk we have to live with, now." Heather said; she drank the rest of her drink, slammed the glass down against the counter.

"Damn! That's good!"

Prue had never felt more alone, now. Having only lived as one of the Charmed Ones and never as one of the separate magical witching community. Seeing Heather, it became apparent to her that all Prue, and her sisters, had taken for granted for being so magically gifted, and to have eachother, no less. Prue found it hard to imagine the past as where she had done this by herself and had gone through the journey Heather and the others had.

After finishing their third drinks, the two decided to head back to the safe house. Prue, who knew how to hold her liquor, held Heather steady as she swayed from side to side, drunkenly. The two went around the corner to an alleyway to allow Heather to relieve herself.

Holding back her hair, Prue turned her head around as three "snapping" sounds happened behind their backs. Three well-dressed men stood with their arms behind their backs; they smiled sinisterly.

'_**Two little Witches, standing in an alley all alone**_

_**Ran my knife through one's heart, the other turned to stone'**_

'_**The first one bled quickly, the other's fate was sealed,**_

'_**Better run quickly, girls'**_

**_'Cause like grapes you're easy enough to peel!'_**

Prue grimaced at the tacky rhyming the man made. Looking to Heather, she was surprised to see her friend wide-eyed and terrified.

"_C'mon now. Don't let them get to you. We can take them._" Prue whispered into her ear.

Heather gulped and Prue helped her up as one of the men began charging at them, knife held high.

Prue waived her hand sending the man flying into the bricked wall of the bar, his comrades charged as well and then "blinked", disappearing.

Prue listened with her ears for footsteps, breathing, anything that would give their attackers' positions' away. Then, she heard Heather shriek. Turning around, Prue watched as Heather held up her hands as one of the men began to strike. The man then stood rigid and began slowly to become enveloped in ice. As soon as he was frozen, entirely, Prue kicked out and caused the man to shatter all over. Another blinking sound happened and Prue spun on the spot as the last man, who was ten feet away from her, gathering up the first that Prue had delt with; threw his dagger at her. Prue swung her hand again, the blade went back to its owner but failed to meet him as he "blinked" away with his friend in hand.

Prue smiled to herself, feeling good to be back in the game and kicking the asses of the baddies again. However, the triumphant feeling wasn't being shared as Prue looked down and noticed Heather, slumped up on the ground, shaking.

"Hey." Prue said, comforting. She bent down and hugged her friend, slowly rocking her. Heather was close to tears as she blubbered out apologies and self-pitying sobs.

"Prue?"

Prue froze. Knowing fully well that Leo had gone through a lot to disguise her, she silently cursed herself for being discovered and then slowly turned to see who it was that recognized her.

A tall man with short hair, but awfully good looks, wearing a plaid shirt and Levi's, holding a grocery bag, looked at her with wide eyes.

_Bane?_ Prue thought.

He slowly approached, his dark eyes unchanging as they were filled with questions and self-doubt. "I…I saw you on the news. They said you were…dead."

Prue looked down to Heather who seemed oblivious to everything around her as she continued to cry and chide herself. Prue turned back to Bane.

She picked herself up, resting a hand on Heather's shoulder, she looked at Bane carefully.

"What'd you call me?" She asked.

Bane smirked, "I know it's you, Prue. Despite the 'change of look' your eyes haven't."

Prue gulped. She then bent down low to Heather and whispered to her.

"_I need to talk to someone, I won't be far._"

Heather nodded as she took shallow breaths, rubbing her eyes but continually rocking herself.

Prue, then, walked up to Bane. "I thought you were still in prison. Did you break out, again?"

Bane shook his head. "I'm out on parole. Prue, what are you doing here in this neighborhood. It's twenty miles away from your sisters."

Prue sighed, "Look, I don't have a lot of time to explain, I need to get Heather back home. I'll tell you this, though. I DID die, Bane, but why I'm back, I'm not sure."

Bane nodded and Prue appreciated it. After all, he knew she was a Witch both when she was living and now. She felt a sort of comfort that there was someone besides Leo and Morris that knew she had returned.

"Live near by?" She asked.

Bane sighed and said, "Yeah."

Prue nodded, "Good. It's nice to know that there's a friendly face in the neighborhood."

Bane nodded.

Prue jerked her head, "I live across the street from the bar, so, don't be a stranger, ok?"

Bane smirked, "Don't worry, I won't."

Prue looked at him. God, how she loved that smile of his. His strong hands, thick shoulders, and those eyes, especially those eyes.

"I'm known as Matilda Hollis, now, so don't be confused." She said.

Bane smiled, "Matilda, huh?"

Prue nodded, she then looked back to Heather who was starting to get back on her feet.

"Well, I have to go now. Good to see you, Bane; I'm happy they've let you out." Prue , then, went back to Heather and held her upright as the two staggered back out of the alleyway and to the safe house.

Bane watched them leave smiling more and more. It felt good to finally be free, again. Maybe the world won't be scary after all.

As soon as Prue and Heather returned, Heather woke everyone up and told them of the adventure Prue and she had. She described in full detail of the men who attacked them and how, between the two of them, she and Prue had vanquished them. Everyone in the room looked to the between of them with immense awe and respect.

"But that's nothing, right?" Prue asked, looking at everybody. "I mean, I'm sure all of you have vanquished your share of Warlocks and demons"

Everyone in the room either coughed or looked in another direction. Heather laughed, ruefully.

"Uh, Matilda, practically everyone of us has never used our powers on the evil."

"Well, except on my, now, ex; that is." Said Roger. "Taught her not to cheat on me with my roommate, while I was "conveniently" still in the same bedroom." Both he and Cloony high-fived eachother.

All the girls ignored the joke.

Heather continued, "You're the only one here whose seen real action and knows how to handle herself when her Whitelighter isn't near. Which is why…"

Prue noticed all the other girls had similarly eager faces as the one on Heather's was.

"To maybe train us on how to fight with our powers?" Heather's hands were clenched, pleading.

Prue turned away, shaking her head from all that she was now given, asked.

Her, a teacher? How was she supposed to instruct newbies when she barely had control of her own power, let alone the new one she developed, Astral-Projecting. She knew she needed to confer with Leo on this before doing something she might regret.

She turned around, "Let me think about it, alright?"

* * *

Piper was furious. Someone had conveniently forgot to refill the refrigerator again and she knew that it was Paige's turn to do it.

"Paige!" She shouted.

Two sets of legs came down the stairs in a hustled flurry.

"What, what is it? Demons? Warlocks? Oh, please don't tell me it's credit card bills." Paige said with a disgusted look on her face.

Piper smiled, "No. An under-stocked fridge, dear. Now, whose turn was it to get groceries for the week?"

Paige gave an unconvincing innocent smile. "Uh…Cole's?"

"Wrong. Paige, what happened? Where's the food?" Piper said going to the fridge, opening it and then closing it.

"Sorry, I'll go by the bank today and get some quick." Paige said, apologetically.

"Why go and blame my boyfriend, huh?" Phoebe said, slapping her on the shoulder.

Just then, the phone rang.

"I'll get it, I'll get it." Said Piper, not wanting to be apart of Paige and Phoebe's discussion any longer.

"Y-ello?" She answered.

"Hello, is one of the Halliwell's available?" Said a voice on the other line.

"This is Piper Halliwell." Piper said.

"Aw, great. This is Dr. Robert Marx at San Francisco Memorial. I just wanted to call you to let you know that we've finally got the blood work brought in as we had promised."

Piper felt her entire body froze, but not due to her own powers. The words "Blood Work" and "San Francisco Memorial" struck an unpleasant memory and experience for her. She decided to act coy. "And?"

"Well I must admit it has us all scratching our heads, Mrs. Halliwell." Dr. Marx said.

Piper looked to her squabbling sisters and ushered them over, bending the earpiece back so they could all listen.

"What did you find?" Piper asked.

"Well," The doctor paused and flipped through some notes, "It seems to be correct, actually. The Jane Doe brought in yesterday is, in fact, your deceased sister, Prue Halliwell."

The entire room went dead silent. Phoebe looked to Piper incredulously as Paige bit down on the bottom of her lip. Piper held a hand to her mouth, her eyes unreadable.

"I-Is that so. Are you…absolutely sure, Doctor?" Piper asked, cautiously, "Our sister's been…she's been dead for six months."

Now it was the doctor's turn to be surprised. "I'm surprised you weren't waiting for this, Mrs. Halliwell. After all, your husband was here and met her, and as from what we learned, took her from the station house under your friend Inspector Morris' authority."

Piper's eyes hardened, she looked narrowingly at the countertop if the table. "He _**did**_, did he?"

"Yes he did." Said Dr. Marx; "If you could please tell him, that, all of us here would very much like for her to come back and do a follow up to see as to how this could have happened"

"So would I." Piper said in a false-modest tone. Phoebe seemed to mirror Piper's anger as she too glared forward and out into the distance.

Soon, after the doctor wished them goodbye, all three women stood in silent until in one sharp voice, Piper and Phoebe yelled out, together: "Leo!!!"

To be continued…

A/N: Don't worry, ALL the sisters will be reunited, soon. Thanks to all who have reviewd, thus far. I'm looking forward to more so keep em' comin' guys! ReviewsChapters, just kidding! But please, review, enjoy and comment.

Q-n-P


	4. First Meetings

**Chapter Four: First Meetings**

It took less than a minute before Leo orbed into the Halliwell Manor, his face was full of surprise to see his wife and Phoebe looking at him with crossed arms; Paige, in the meantime looked elsewhere, her eyes full of deep thought. She then excused herself and went upstairs; no one in the room seemed to notice, as the two remaining women's eyes were squarely set on Leo.

Piper, whose eyes were hard, feigned a welcoming smile. "Hi, honey. How was your day?"

"Good." Leo said, looking at her, curiously. He then turned around as Phoebe went behind him and then he turned back to Piper.

"Guess what?" Piper said, she then slowly walked towards Leo, "San Francisco Memorial called. They say they had finished the blood work on a woman that was brought in yesterday, a woman that you took from the police station." She finally came face-to-face with Leo and she clenched her teeth as she, then, prodded him in the chest. "A woman whose blood is Prue's!"

Leo tried to grab hold of his Piper's wrists as she continually kept on poking him and then resorted to hitting him.

"You knew! You knew and you kept it from us! From me; your wife!"

Leo finally managed to get ahold of Piper's hands and he looked at her seriously, "Piper, please! Calm down and let me explain!"

"What is there to explain?" Phoebe said, her arms crossed and looking almost as mad as Piper was, at Leo. "You knew she came back and you kept it from us. What else is there to explain?"

Leo sighed as he continued to grapple with Piper's arms, "Well, for one thing, that woman is, and isn't, Prue."

Piper stopped her fighting and with tear-strewn eyes, looked at Leo, questioningly, as did Phoebe who had her hands down at her sides.

Leo sighed, "Prue, your sister, is still buried at the Mausoleum, and intact. It hasn't been disturbed. No one knows who this "Prue" is. She has her looks, her memories, her powers, and everything physical about her; but she is not Prue Halliwell."

The room suddenly went quiet and Piper tore herself away from Leo as she walked away. Phoebe, however, walked up to him.

"What do you mean, "no one knows"? Don't the Elders have any idea on how this Prue came here?"

Leo shook his head, "They don't and it scares them. Someone has been able to replicate a Charmed One and have done it so thoroughly that it could become very dangerous, very soon."

Piper soon regained herself and rejoined Leo and Phoebe. "I want to see her."

As Leo sighed, Cole came in shimmering and walked in clapping his hands, "I got good news." He then looked around and saw the look on Piper's face and the acknowledging look on Leo's.

"Ah, so they found out, huh?"

Phoebe walked over and hit him on the shoulder, "You knew too!"

Cole backed away from her, "Ow! And yes."

"What's the good news? Did you find someone who knew something about someone who was able to make perfect duplicates out of Witches?" Leo asked.

Cole nodded, "Not someone, though, more like a group. The Red Phoenix Clan."

Leo arched an eyebrow in awe and confusion, "The Red Phoenix Clan? I was told they were wiped out during the Crusades."

Cole shrugged, "Well, apparently not. Although, from what my source says, their numbers aren't that big anymore."

Phoebe laughed, ruefully, "Ok, wait, why would this 'Phoenix Clan' want to duplicate Prue?"

"Well," Cole said, "When Prue was alive she WAS the strongest of the Charmed Ones; perhaps, they think by bringing her back, in their own little way, of course; that they might be able to use her for some purpose."

Phoebe sighed, "Boy, the Source really likes to pull all the tricks just to see us dead."

Cole sighed and shook his head, "No, Phoebe. The Red Phoenix Clan is working without the Source's knowledge. He, like the Elders, is upset and mystified as to how someone managed to duplicate Prue Halliwell, seeing as how he sent Shax and had her killed. It's a low blow for him."

Piper, who remained quiet for the entire discussion, grabbed ahold of Leo's arm and squeezed, tightly. "I need to see her, Leo."

Leo looked at her with immense calm and conviction. "Piper, the Elders have forbidden me to allow any of you from seeing this Prue. They feel that should the four of you get together, something catastrophic may occur."

"I…don't…care, Leo." Piper said in an anguished tone. "I…need…to…see…Prue!"

Leo held together his wife's hands into his own. He looked guiltily down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Piper. I can't." Then, without looking at the response she was about to make, Leo orbed out.

Piper watched his glowing form spiral out into the ceiling and then disappear.

Phoebe went to her sister and gave her a hug, she then looked to Cole.

"Do YOU know where she is?"

Cole shook his head, "I've exposed myself far too much doing research, I hadn't the time to know where Leo took her."

Phoebe sighed and resumed holding her sister whose sobs finally stopped. To Phoebe's surprise, Piper tore away from her and went into the foyer. Both Phoebe and Cole went after her and found her with the blade and the crystal, scrying on the map of San Francisco. Cole and Phoebe joined her and watched as the crystal dangled for a few moments and then fell, prominently, on a spot on the map.

Phoebe sighed, "It's the Mausoleum. Piper…"

Piper held up a hand for Phoebe to be quiet as she lifted the crystal up and tried again.

Cole sighed, "Your sister's dead, Piper. Scrying isn't going to work trying to find someone who isn't exactly her."

Piper threw the blade down against the table, the point burying itself into the surface and map. Piper buried her face in her hands and made quiet sobs as Phoebe, once again, took her in her arms and tried to console her.

Paige soon reemerged from the stairs dressed in her work-outfit.

Phoebe looked to her, "Paige? Where were you?"

Paige smiled, "It seemed like a 'family' discussion, so, I didn't want to get in the way. Besides, I'm already late for work as it is."

Phoebe sighed, still rubbing Piper's back, "Paige, you ARE family, dear."

Paige sighed, "I know, but I didn't know Prue so it seemed more like something for the four of you to discuss since I didn't know her." She then checked her watch, "Damn, I better get going." She kissed Piper on top of her head and brushed it, slightly, with her hand.

"I'll see you two later, alright?" She said and then left the room.

* * *

Prue found that the other Witches were having the same problems she and her sisters had when they first tried to get used to their powers, control of emotions. It seemed to be a common confliction as many of these Witches powers were brought on by sudden emotions. Heather's power seemed to happen when she was either afraid or simply panicked; it reminded Prue heavily of Piper with her power. Roger and Cloony seemed to have a handle on their powers as they seemed to be able to control theirs with ease, due to having been using them longer than the others.

"What you should keep in mind," Prue instructed them, "Is that these powers we have should never be used for personal gain, so keep that in mind Cloony." She pushed Cloony's tiny figure with her foot as she had caught him looking up Brenda's skirt. Brenda Hawthorne was a new Witch that Leo had brought over, having saved her from a Darklighter, which was moments away from killing her. She had a unique power; she could make herself invisible and was able to move through solid objects. She was quiet, yet was always attentive.

"Why with all the selflessness? We were born with these nifty things, why not have some fun with them?" Cloony asked, now at his normal size.

"You seem to always have fun, Cloony." Heather said, kicking him for looking up Brenda's skirt.

"Because," Prue said, "There are consequences for using your power for personal gain. I'm sure Leo has said this to you all."

Just then, Leo orbed inside the room, his face looking drained and withdrawn.

"Leo? What happened?" Prue asked walking up to him.

Leo took her into another room where they were out of earshot of the others.

"Your sisters know, Prue." He said, looking apologetically toward her.

Prue sighed. She still didn't understand why all the secrecy was necessary and why she had to remain apart from her sisters.

"How'd they take it?" She asked. She could already tell by the look on Leo's face that it didn't go well, but she still wanted to hear it, all the same.

Leo paced in the room, "It's going to be a long time before Piper begins to forgive me or understand why I had to keep this from her and the others. Your being here is still a mystery as your body still remains in the mausoleum."

Prue was still struggling with that fact as philosophical questions popped in her head and more about the implications of her existence.

"Have you and Cole discovered anything new?"

Leo nodded, "We think that a demonic group called "The Red Phoenix Clan" may be responsible for your being here. There's a problem though as the Clan themselves were reportedly destroyed back during the Crusades and no demons have been trying to resurrect the Clan. I just got back from meeting with the Elders and they told me that I'm to keep a more watchful eye on you from here on in. They believe whoever brought you here, be it the Clan reformed or some other demon using the Clan's old magic; might come into contact with you very soon."

Prue sighed and walked away, she fell into a chair as Leo came next to her and squatted down, looking at her inquisitively.

"It's a lot to take in, Leo. First I'm back and I think that I've been resurrected and now I'm a clone, duplicate, doppelganger, whatever; and that I'm still no closer to finding out why I'm here than I was before."

Leo smiled and put a reassuring hand on Prue's leg. "I'm here for you, you know. I'll do my best to find out what's going on and, by the two of us, we'll figure this all out."

Prue nodded, sadly. "I still wish I could see Piper and Phoebe. I'd also like to meet Paige."

Leo sighed as he got up, "I wish it were possible but it isn't. At least not for now, though."

Prue sighed.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, behind them, Cloony and Brenda watched them with an un-diverted attention.

* * *

Sitting at her desk, Paige took the moment she had and practiced balancing a pencil on the tip of her nose without losing its balance. Her new boss, Gladys, came up to her desk.

"Miss Matthews?"

Paige jerked, sending the pencil across her desk, she tried to look nonchalant. "Yes, Gladys?"

Gladys whose appearance reminded Paige of the women in the "Farside" comic strip: tall beehive hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and a pouting mouth.

Gladys handed her a folder; "There's a custody battle happening between these two people. The mother wants full custody of her daughter from her ex-husband on the grounds that he's a recovering alcoholic who has a history of repeating. The husband is countering the custody stating that his ex-wife's living conditions are ill fit for their daughter. I want you to meet with her and do the usual Q and A. Oh, make thorough notes on the condition of the place she's staying in. Got that, Matthews?"

Paige nodded and took the folder, looking at the name at the top; "Heather Saunders".

It took Paige nearly an hour before she reached the address where Heather Saunders was situated and by the look of the neighborhood alone, Paige was beginning to feel that this woman didn't have a strong case. However, choosing to be unbiased, unless something strong stood out, Paige did her duty and walked up the flights of steps and then "worked" her outfit to a more fitting look before knocking.

A man of forty looked at her, curiously when he answered the door.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Heather Saunders?" Paige asked.

The man turned behind him, muttered something, then stood aside as a tall red haired woman replaced him, her whole body was sweaty and she was breathing heavily.

"Yeah? I'm Heather Saunders."

Paige extended her hand, "Miss Saunders, I'm Paige Matthews from Social Services. I'm here to do an interview and see your place so I can report to the court."

Heather's eyes went wide and she turned around and whispered something. When she turned back around, she smiled. "Please, come in Paige."

Paige nodded, looking at Heather, curiously as she entered. Looking around, Paige found the place to be quite large and there were numerous people in the room.

"Am I interrupting something?" Paige asked.

Heather looked to where Paige was looking and then laughed, "Oh, them? No, you're not interrupting anything. These people live here with me. They're my roommates, you see."

Paige nodded, but suppressed her amazement by how many roommates occupied the place. The place itself seemed pretty impressive, as well. Multiple rooms, an indoor gym in one corner, a large flat-screen TV, and a large oak dining table followed by a spacious kitchen. The outside of this place didn't do it justice.

Heather quickly introduced her to the others, all of whom looked as sweaty as Heather, which Paige guessed that they were all in a workout session before she came; although a lot of them looked particularly nervous at her, all but one, the last one Heather introduced her to.

"And this is Matilda. She came here just a couple of days ago."

Paige shook the woman's hand, all the while looking at her face with immense curiosity as it appeared to be vaguely familiar.

Matilda had a warm smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, Paige." She said.

Paige continued on starring at her, uncertain as to why this person seemed so familiar. Heather drew Paige away from Matilda and took her to somewhere more private.

Shutting the door behind them, Heather pointed out a seat in the room that was next to a desk that had a laptop on it, while Heather sat on the bed.

Paige took out the folder, and a pen, and began taking notes.

"Quite the place you have here, not to mention the company that you keep."

Heather smiled, "Thanks. Sorry that some of them seem so shy, we rarely get any visitors."

Paige looked at her curiously. "Why is that?"

Heather sighed, "Well, truth be known, this place is actually a shelter for those from poverty. Two others and myself run it. We provide safe haven for people while they go out and seek employment and or housing."

Paige nodded and wrote verbatim what Heather had said. "Has your daughter, Kelly, been here before?"

Heather nodded, "She has and she's never felt nervous or uncomfortable with the people that stay here. It's only John that seems to have a problem with this place and my being here, it's actually what separated us, unfortunately."

"Do you ever admit people with a history of violence? For that matter, do you do any sort of background check of anyone seeking shelter here?" Paige asked.

Heather nodded and pointed to the computer on the desk, "I keep full on records of those admitted here. Their police records, social security numbers, everything. I promise you, Miss Matthews, that this IS a safe environment for a child to be brought up in."

Paige smiled, "It seems like it to me, however it's not up to me to grant you the custody of your daughter; only a judge can do that. I'm here ONLY to record what I see and my interview with you based with some thoughts and opinions of my own. Trust me, Heather, I'm an unbiased person and am only negative or harsh when I see something I don't like. So far, I'm fairly confident that this is a suitable place for Kelly to live in; again, though, its not my decision."

Heather sighed and shrugged. "Thank you for being honest."

Paige nodded.

The two discussed more before Paige announced that she had to leave, seeing as how it was getting dark.

Paige bidded Heather good luck on her case as she exited the apartment and began walking down the steps until she spotted the same, eerily familiar woman she had met when she first came into Heather's.

The woman was reading a book by the moonlight that came from the sky, her long, black, highlighted hair swayed a little in the wind. Her dark eyes went back and forth and her mouth mouthed the words in the book she was reading. She had interesting tattoos. One of an angel flying down to a child praying by a bedside, one of the others, a fierce, battle-clad woman standing at a dock,, brandishing a weapon and attacking some sort of water demon. The woman looked to the side of her at Paige and smiled. She closed her book and then closed her eyes.

"Nice night, huh?" She said.

Paige approached her, cautiously. "I guess."

Matilda smirked, "I actually hate nights, like these."

Paige looked at her curiously, "Why?"

Matilda turned to her and gave a smug smile, "Cause there's usually no one to have a drink with."

"_Is she coming on to me?"_ Paige thought and began to refuse the offer when Matilda shook her head.

"Maybe I said that wrong. I'm just wondering if you'd like to get a drink, is all. I'm curious about what it is that you do."

Paige sighed to herself. It had been awhile since she went to a place other than with her sisters. "Yeah, ok. But not for too long, since I have to work tomorrow."

Matilda nodded, left her book behind on the stairwell, and led the way to the "Wild Pelican". After finding a table in the back, and after ordering their drinks, Paige leaned forward.

"Say, Matilda, have we met before? You remind me so heavily of someone."

Matilda sighed and took her drink and drank. "Well, truth be told, we've never met till today, so no."

Paige leaned back sighing, still looking at her, wondering, to herself why she felt like she knew this woman. She reached into the deepest ends of her mind and then, like a gunshot, an image came straight to her. It was the photo of Prue that was on her casket at her funeral that Paige had attended.

"Oh my God." Paige said, staring at Matilda. "You're-"

Prue held up a hand, silencing her; she nodded.

Paige shook her head in marvel of her discovery and soon her attitude changed to curiosity as she leaned forward once more. She whispered.

"_Prue…how?_"

Prue sighed and shrugged, "I don't know, really. Leo's trying to put the pieces together with Cole."

Paige rolled her eyes and sighed, "Not Cole."

Prue smiled, "I take it you're not fond of him either, huh?"

Paige laughed, "Well, he IS a demon!" She sighed and looked away, "Besides that, I just don't trust him that well."

Prue rested her chin on her hand, smiling. "Well, I must say, for sisters, who have never met, you and I share a lot of same opinions."

Paige turned back to her and smiled, "Yeah, I guess we do. So tell me Pr-, uh, Matilda."

Prue nodded.

"Why haven't you come back to the Manor? Piper's a mess and Phoebe's one trying to get her in control of herself."

Prue looked at her, surprised. "You mean, Leo hasn't told you?"

Paige shook her head, "I had to get ready for work, I guess he told Piper and Phoebe but not me, yet."

"Well, I'll tell you now, since you're here."

The two women turned to see Leo come in and sit down at the table.

"Matilda, I thought I told you not to contact them, you know what the risks are."

Paige looked at him defiantly, "Yeah, but I don't, you haven't told me yet. Besides, she didn't come to me, I came to her. Her roommate, Heather, is trying to gain custody of her daughter, and my work sent me out to meet with her."

Leo turned white, "Oh, er, sorry, Paige. I forgot about Heather's situation."

Paige looked at him. "Wait, you know Heather?"

Leo nodded, "Everyone you met there's a Witch. Well, except for Janice and Bethany. They're there because they were evicted from their homes and are friends of Heather's."

Paige sighed, "Wow, six witches living under one roof. That's going to be hard to explain to my boss. Kidding! Kidding!" Paige held up her hands as Leo scowled at her.

Prue smiled at her. Now she had finally met the long lost sister she had never known and Prue liked her, a lot.

Leo sighed, "You realize, Paige, that you can never tell Piper or Phoebe about where you found Prue."

Paige sighed and leaned forward to Leo; "You still have yet to explain to me why."

Leo then told her about everything that he and Cole had discovered, all the while Prue smiled, feeling that things might turn out better in the long run.

* * *

In a deep hallowed out cavern, an ancient man sitting in a throne made of sandstone waited. He was dressed in a blood-red colored robe; golden symbols outlined in black came down his sleeves. With a shallow bony finger, he tapped one of the symbols, which glowed in response.

Then, a swirling vortex came from the wall in the entrance-less hallow. Seven figures dressed in the same fashion as the man in the throne chair, came out of the vortex and circled around his chair before stopping when everyone was in place. The vortex soon closed and lights illuminated from the ceiling.

"Like the very Phoenix that rises from the ashes, so do we The Red Phoenix Clan! Here to raise honor, here to raise those worthy, and here to raise destruction on Earth! May the Phoenix rise again!" All the hooded people chanted.

The man seated in the middle of the room raised a hand, which had every member kneel down.

"Brothers…" The man wheezed, "It's been far…too long since the Phoenix rose, and now…it shall…rise again."

"The Phoenix shall rise again!" The others chanted, in unison.

The man in the chair nodded. "T-Tell me…has she been risen from the ashes?"

One of the members in the circle got up and stepped forward, kneeling back down again.

"Yes she has, my lord." A woman's voice said from beneath the hood.

"Excellent, very…good." The leader wheezed, again. "Tell me…faithful sister of the Phoenix…is she alone?"

The hooded women shook her head. "No, my lord. She's with me and with me she shall remain until you order otherwise."

The leader wheezed some more, coughed, and then flexed his bony fingers.

"The risen…m-must…find her siblings…all of them….Make it happen…sister of the Phoenix…make it happen."

The hooded woman, then stood up and removed her hood. Heather smiled at her leader.

"The Phoenix shall rise again!" She shouted.

To be continued…

A/N: Hope ya liked that. Don't worry all four of the P's will get together once again (Well, at least the three of them, of course. Paige already got her turn). Review you butts off and keep on reading, it's-a gonna get good!

Q-n-P


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